With superstar LeBron James likely playing at least one more NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers should dangle almost any asset they have to improve their roster.
The Lakers’ ‘poster boy” of trade rumors this offseason is star guard Austin Reaves, who is coming off the best campaign of his career. He averaged 20.2 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.5 rebounds on 46 percent shooting and 37.7 percent from three-point range.
One organization in dire need of a major roster shake-up that could express interest in Reaves is the Miami Heat. Although Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo were able to lead the team to the first-round of the playoffs, it was a hopeless postseason after franchise cornerstone Jimmy Butler was dealt in February. This chain of events prompted team president Pat Riley to clearly express his desire to avoid running it back next season.
Enter a proposed blockbuster trade between the Heat and Lakers from FanSided that accomplishes Riley’s goal:
Heat receive: Reaves, Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber
Lakers receive: Andrew Wiggins, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr.
This is quite the package for the Heat to part with for Reaves, as Wiggins is a former All-Star with experience on the biggest stage while Ware and Jaquez Jr. have flashed star potential early in their careers.
“The Heat have a more pressing need for what Reaves can bring,” the article shared. “They need another shot-creator to lighten the load on Herro. They could use more shooting to give Adebayo more breathing room on the interior. And, frankly, they could simply stand to generally up their scoring output.”
A backcourt of Reaves and Herro could certainly carry the scoring load, but it could also cause serious problems on the defensive end. While Adebayo can continue to hold down the interior, teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks will expose this hypothetical backcourt with their superstar guards (Donovan Mitchell and Jalen Brunson).
Miami’s front office had a similar mentality when trading for former Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier. Although the Heat struck out on the Rozier acquisition, it could be worthwhile pursuing another offensive-minded guard to pair alongside Herro at the right cost.
